SQ 832: Minimum Wage Increase | Information and Resources

Gabriela Ramirez-Perez // July 17, 2016 // Updated: July 17, 2024
OK Policy Articles & Research

For more information on the minimum wage, visit OK Policy’s What you need to know about the minimum wage in Oklahoma.

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This page serves as information and resources on the Oklahoma minimum wage increase ballot initiative (SQ 832). It will be updated to reflect the most recent information available. OK Policy has endorsed SQ 832.

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What is State Question 832?

State Question 832 is an initiative petition giving Oklahoma voters the opportunity to raise the minimum wage. If passed, the measure would increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2029, starting with an increase to $9 per hour in 2025.

The ballot initiative is being run by the group Raise the Wage Oklahoma. Increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00 would affect more than 200,000 Oklahomans, the majority of whom are women and people of color.

Currently, more than half of all U.S. states have raised the minimum wage, meaning that Oklahoma is lagging behind in ensuring hard working Oklahomans are paid enough to take care of their families and do their part to keep our economy growing.

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The road to the ballot box

The initiative petition was filed on October 27, 2023 by Kelsey Cobb from El Reno and Dustin Phelan from Salina. After it was filed, the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and Oklahoma Farm Bureau filed a lawsuit against the bill, but on March 4, 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ultimately ruled that SQ 832 could move forward.

With the court ruling, the 90-day window for signature collecting for the initiative petition began in April 2024. In order to appear on the November 2024 ballot, SQ 832 needed to receive 92,263 signatures. This number is 8 percent of the signatures cast for governor in the most recent election, as required by the Oklahoma Constitution. The Yes on 832 campaign submitted nearly 180,000 signatures to the Oklahoma Secretary of State on July 15, 2024.

For years, Oklahoma lawmakers have failed to raise the minimum wage through legislation, which is why organizers chose to take action via a ballot initiative that lets Oklahoma voters decide on the issue. Since the federal minimum wage was last raised in 2009, 10 states have raised their minimum wage through the ballot initiative process, including Colorado, Missouri, and Arkansas, and these states have not seen adverse economic consequences after doing so.

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What does the ballot initiative say?

The official ballot title for State Question 832 reads as follows:

“This measure would amend the Oklahoma Minimum Wage Act (“OMWA”) to increase the state minimum wage. Employers would be required to pay employees at least $9 per hour beginning in 2025, $10.50 per hour beginning 2026, $12 per hour beginning in 2027, $13.50 per hour beginning in 2028, and $15 per hour beginning in 2029. Beginning in 2030, the minimum wage would increase yearly based on the increase in the cost of living, if any, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. This measure would eliminate a number of exemptions in the current OMWA, including the exemptions for employers subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, part-time employees, certain students and individuals under the age of 18, certain farm and agricultural workers, domestic service workers, newspaper vendors or carriers, and feedstore employees.

Under this measure, federal and state employees would not be covered under the OMWA. Some employers with ten or fewer employees, as well as certain other types of employees and volunteers, would remain exempt. The measure provides for liberal construction, non-retroactivity, severability, and an effective date of the January 1 following approval by the People.”

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How will a higher minimum wage impact businesses and the economy?

Research has found that small businesses can absorb wage increases and reap economic benefits. It also shows that a higher minimum wage doesn’t lead to large rises in unemployment. In fact, a higher minimum wage makes it easier to recruit and retain employees, increases productivity, and reduces worker turnover.

In 2021, as businesses returned to normal operations following the worst of the pandemic, many struggled to find employees at pre-pandemic wages. Businesses offering higher starting wages, however, had little to no problem hiring workers. Additionally, these workers stayed in their positions, which reduced turnover. States that guarantee a higher minimum wage for leisure and hospitality industries, meaning employees in businesses like hotels and restaurants, found that their sectors recovered faster coming out of the pandemic. As such, a higher minimum wage can help offset potential increases in labor costs.

A higher wage is also good for the economy. Workers employed in small businesses live in their local communities and hence spend locally. When a worker is paid a living wage, it means that they aren’t struggling to make ends meet and have more spendable income they can invest back into local stores and restaurants, which generates demand that can cover the cost of paying employees a higher wage. The Small Business Administration estimates that for every $100 spent in a small business, about $68 stay within the local economy. If a customer spent the same amount in a large business, only $48 would stay in the community. Furthermore, a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that raising the pay of minimum wage workers by just one dollar an hour can generate more than $2,000 in consumer spending in a year. There are a myriad of positive effects when money is spent locally; more money circulating in our communities creates jobs, sustains the economy, and bolsters tax revenue.

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General information

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Campaign pages

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News

  • Oklahoma minimum wage petition supporters submit nearly double number of required signatures [Oklahoma Voice]
  • Oklahoma Supreme Court deems SQ 832 ‘legally sufficient’; minimum wage petition advances [Fox 25]

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Studies

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Op-eds, editorials, and endorsements

Supporting

Opposing

Endorsements 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gabriela Ramirez-Perez // gramirez-perez@okpolicy.org

Gabriela joined OK Policy as an Immigration Policy Analyst in August 2021. Raised in Oklahoma City, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with minors in German, Arabic, and International Security Studies. During college Gabriela had internships at the Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma, the Office of former Congresswoman Kendra Horn, and she took part in events to help educate first-generation Latinx students on how to attend college. Gabriela looks forward to using her skills at OK Policy to work towards a more equitable future for all Oklahomans.